Public Censure of Attorney Paul J. Sulla, Jr.

The Supreme Court of Hawaii Rules for Public Censure of Attorney Paul J. Sulla, Jr., a “Rambo Lawyer” Who Argues Like a “Reckless Man.”

Compelled by rulings in the U.S. Tax Court finding for Public Censure of Attorney Paul J. Sulla, Jr., for arguing to advance a national tax fraud movement, Brian Takaba was found guilty of tax evasion, and Sulla was charged with arguing “like a reckless man” in defense of Takaba’s reasons for not paying taxes.

In 2002, the U.S. Tax Court Ordered the Rambo attorney Sulla be publicly shamed and fined for his “frivolous” arguing and repeated “recklessness.” The Court held Mr. Sulla “liable for [Takaba’s] excess costs . . . since he both knowingly and recklessly made frivolous arguments, thus unreasonably and vexatiously” multiplied the proceedings.

This was the first time Mr. Sulla was actually shamed before his professional peers, but it would not be the last. In 2005, financial accountant Joe Kristan wrote a “Tax Update” for lawyers and members of the accounting law community titled, “Crawling Up the Learning Curve” in which he shamed Sulla, Jr. for his slow progress in learning lessons in tax law. Published with a Roth & Company, P.C. disclaimer, Kristan published Sulla’s tax “honesty-movement” arguments like this one:

“I reviewed the sections of the code that you
supplied me [sections 1, 61, 6012, attached to
counsel’s letter of March 24, 2000]. There is no
statement in any of those sections that specifically
states that “income” is the thing that is being taxed.
Until you establish a legal and factual basis for your
claim that “income” is the subject of the tax[,] the
amount and sources of my “income” is not relevant to
the issue. The IRS issued the notice of deficiency
claiming that “income” is the subject of the tax and
that because I have “income” I am required to pay a tax
on that “income”. I can’t wait to get IRS employees on
the stand and ask them “On what factual basis do you
claim that ‘income’ is the subject of the tax?”